Led by Staff Consultant Richard Reinert and Ball's Deputy Director for Solar System Advanced Systems Rich Dissly, Ball Aerospace has a developed a landing probe design concept that would enable characterization of both the surface and interior of small solar system objects, such as asteroids and comets, as part of future space missions to such targets.

"The basic probe designed by Ball Aerospace could become a low-cost component of future missions that would enable a rich spectrum of in-situ investigations to a large number of target bodies," said Ebbets. "In many cases more than one probe may be desired to sample different regions or to work together as a network of sensors."

The probe design is roughly the size of a basketball, allowing for several to be carried by a rendezvous spacecraft and deployed individually. They are intended to survive a freefall to the surface, impacting with a velocity of only a few meters/second. Deployable panels on the nominally spherical body are designed to ensure self-righting to an operational orientation.

Each probe could accommodate a payload of several kilograms, optimized for its particular investigation. Candidates include imagers, accelerometers, X-Ray spectrometers, sample collection and examination mechanisms, and possibly pyrotechnic charges for seismic excitation or cratering experiments. The probe provides a standard suite of services such as battery power, data management and communications with the rendezvous spacecraft. Ball Aerospace is also studying options for mobility, such as "hopping", and for anchoring to the surface of a micro-gravity body.

The American Astronomical Society (AAS), established in 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. The basic objective of the AAS is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of science.

Ball Aerospace celebrated its 50th year in business in 2006. The company began building pointing controls for military rockets in 1956, and later won a contract to build one of NASA's first spacecraft, the Orbiting Solar Observatory. Over the years, the company has been responsible for numerous technological and scientific firsts' and now acts as a technology innovator for important national missions.

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